Warriors power forward David Lee, who has missed six games with a strained right hamstring, could be sidelined for an extended period.

The 6-foot-9, 240-pounder missed Tuesday's practice, will miss Thursday's game against Denver, and now has been diagnosed with nerve inflammation in his back that has kept him from returning to any level of team activity in practice.

"We certainly miss him. We certainly need him," Warriors head coach Mark Jackson said. "He's a guy who is doing everything possible to get back on the floor. He's frustrated right now and rightfully so. We don't know how long, but I'll tell you what: He's doing everything possible to get back on the floor for this basketball team."

Jackson said the team hasn't had any dialogue about Lee missing time in the playoffs, but that appears to be a possibility. The Warriors have five regular season games remaining and have yet to secure a postseason berth.

"The bottom line is: If he's not back or when he comes back, we still have a job to do," Jackson said. "We need him. We miss him. But the assignment is still the assignment."

Lee is averaging 18.5 points and 9.4 rebounds per game this season.

Dr. Luga Podesta, a sports medicine physician at Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles, has seen similar cases over the years, when an athlete has something akin to sciatica - nerve damage in the back that mimics a leg or muscle injury.

Given the time constraints, Podesta said it's possible that the Warriors could decide to be aggressive with Lee's injury. They could opt for epidural injections that would drop the inflammation dramatically and allow him to start rehabbing sooner.

"It's especially difficult in this type of athlete, because he never wants to stop, and there's no opportune time at this point in the season to stop and let it heal," Podesta said. "Now, it's getting close to the playoffs, so everything gets escalated. There's no time for anything to heal."

Lee, who is scheduled to address the media after Wednesday's practice, tore his right hip flexor in Game 1 of last season's first-round series against Denver and then limped back onto the court just 12 days later.